


Come and Meet Us

by infinitevariety (disapparater)



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: (Almost), Bakery and Coffee Shop, Donna Noble Remembers, Gen, POV Donna, POV Outsider, Starmaker Crowley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disapparater/pseuds/infinitevariety
Summary: Donna notices the strange pair as soon as they enter the cafe, but she can't quite figure out why the tall redhead looks so familiar.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Tenth Doctor & Donna Noble
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	Come and Meet Us

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an ask I got on tumblr and originally posted [here](https://infinitevariety.tumblr.com/post/644204955626061824/the-husbands-meet-donna-noble).

Donna is flicking through her copy of _Hello!_ Magazine and getting the latest gossip on the Wagatha Christie drama when they walk into the cafe. They’re hard to miss. A stiff but friendly-looking blond man in a smart, pale, but outdated suit enters first, and Donna can’t help but notice the way the lighting in the cafe brightens up as he steps through the door. He is quickly followed by a long streak of a man dressed in black with vibrant red hair, who seems slightly out of breath.

“There’s no need to rush. They won’t have sold out of angel cake,” says the redhead as he catches up.

“You never know, my dear. The afternoon rush can decimate the dessert counter,” replies the blond, who is already eyeing the puddings on display.

Donna feels a small pang of guilt as she gazes down the crumbs on her plate—she’d ordered the last slice of angel cake 10 minutes ago.

A snapping noise catches Donna’s attention and she looks back up at the pair by the counter.

“There, see,” says the redhead, “plenty of angel cake.”

The blond man just hums and shoots a glance at his companion.

Donna frowns, but shrugs it off. The cafe obviously restocked the angel cake with more from the back. However, her frown returns when blondie orders a slice of angel cake and a sticky toffee pudding oat milk hot chocolate—Donna _knows_ that’s not on the menu. She’s been coming to this cafe for months. While they have an array of cold drinks in the fridge, the only hot drinks they offer are bog standard tea, coffee, and hot chocolate.

She continues to watch the pair warily over the top of her magazine. She sees the redhead pay for their order by flashing a sleek, black credit card with no details on it. She sees blondie smile at him in thanks as he grabs a clean and fancy-looking newspaper from the rack that contained only months-old magazines and tatty tabloid newspapers when Donna walked in. She sees them look around for a table to find them all occupied… just before the woman on the table next to Donna’s suddenly gets up to go. The woman leaves a half-drunk cup of coffee behind, but the strange couple don’t seem to mind as they slip into the seats at the newly-vacated table.

When their order is brought over blondie folds his posh paper and pushes it aside. Donna spies the name— _Celestial Observer_ —but she’s never heard of it. While blondie immediately tucks into his angel cake and sticky toffee pudding oat milk hot chocolate, the redhead simply sits. He has his elbow on the tabletop and his chin resting in his open palm. He has sunglasses on, but Donna can tell he is watching his companion.

While the redhead watches blondie, Donna watches the redhead. There is something about him, Donna is sure. The line of his jaw, the set of his mouth… he seems so _familiar_.

“Do I know you?” The words leave Donna’s mouth before she’d even consciously thought them.

The redhead looks up at her, head panning left and right for a second, before fixing back on Donna.

“Sorry, what?” he says.

“I recognise you… have we meet before?”

The blond man has slowed down his eating and is now staring across the table at the redhead watchfully.

The redhead pushes out his lips and shakes his head mildly. “Nah, don’t think so.”

“Oh,” says Donna, “okay, sorry.”

With a shrug the redhead turns back to the blond man. They exchange a few words in a hurried whisper so quiet Donna doesn’t catch what they’re saying.

Still, she can’t tear her eyes away from the man. The red hair is all wrong. She doesn’t know why, but she’s sure of it. Must be a dye job. Donna wishes she could see his eyes. She knows if she saw them she would be able to imagine them lit up with joy or full of sadness.

She knows she knows this man.

Then the man leans his head back and the lights of the cafe reflect like dots in the lens of his sunglasses. Donna sees it so clearly, then, just for a second. Space. Plants and vastness and nebulae and—

“Stars,” she mutters out loud to herself. She shakes her head, an ache coming on in her temples.

The sound of cutlery clattering draws her attention back to the table beside her. Blondie has dropped his knife and fork and is turned, looking directly at Donna.

“Terribly sorry, young lady, what did you say?” he asks. The politeness does nothing to hide the shock on his face.

“Nothing, really,” starts Donna. “It’s just…” She turns to the redhead again. “…I can picture you in space, surrounded by stars. It’s weird.”

The redhead opens his mouth, but instead of words he blusters out an incomprehensible series of sounds. While he flounders, the blond man turns to look at his friend, eyes even wider.

“ _Crowley_ ,” says blondie in a harsh whisper that easily carries. “how could she know?”

“Know what?” asks Donna immediately.

“Know that I—” The redhead, Crowley, hurries to answer. “I—work at the planetarium!” He nods, happy with his answer. “Yeah, you probably saw me giving a talk.”

Donna is almost certain she’s never been to the planetarium. She couldn’t even tell you where it is. But she decides to play along. “Riiight, yeah, must be that.”

A wide, friendly smile breaks out over the blond man’s face and the Crowley chap physically deflates with obvious relief. Donna isn’t as easily mollified. She picks her magazine back up, but continues to keep an eye on the pair of them.

As she watches them, Donna notes that no matter how deeply blondie drinks from his mug, he never seems to finish his sticky toffee pudding oat milk hot chocolate. She also notices that the busy pavement outside clears of people when Crowley turns to gaze out of the window.

Donna continues to wonder where she’s _really_ seen Crowley before. She wants to ask more questions. But she also doesn’t want to up and leave, abandoning her half-read magazine behind. Which is what she instinctively knows will happen if she pushes further. There is something very _odd_ about this peculiar pair, and while Donna is sure Crowley does not work at the planetarium she decides, on balance, to leave it alone.

The ache in her temples begins to ease as soon as she lets go of her curiosity.

Donna decides to go, lest she spot anything else too strange. She pointedly folds her magazine and slips it in her handbag, throwing the bag over her shoulder. She makes it two steps towards the door before she is compelled to spin back around.

Crowley is already looking at her. She throws him a grin, pleased to see a small smile in return. She doesn’t know why she says it, just as she turns to leave, but the words slip out easily...

“See you, spaceman.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and drop me a prompt on [tumblr](https://infinitevariety.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
